Sheree Webb, Northeast Regional Director for OATS, Inc., said earlier this week that while they may have had to eliminate one of their routes earlier this year due to sequestration cuts, her organization will still be providing transportation to those who need it along similar routes as in the past.

“They were hit a lot harder than we were in the northwest region,” Webb told the MMI in a telephone interview on Tuesday (June 25). “The effects of the sequestration are trickling down. The funding is becoming less and less.”

Webb said that due to budget cuts back in March of this year, OATS “deleted a couple routes, and compensated with a few others.”

“We deleted Moberly county to Columbia,” she said. “we used to have a northern county to Moberly route, and a southern county to Moberly route.

“Now, we just have one.”

Webb said that OATS still provides five-day-a-week service to Moberly, and that “other than that, we still have a five-day-a-week Magic City Express route.”

For more information on OATS routes in the area, or to schedule a ride on the Weekly Express or Randolph County routes call 1-800-654-6287, Monday through Friday, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.